Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Suffolk Concert Band held on

Wednesday 9th February 2005, at Holy Trinity Hall, Ipswich

 

 

1.       Apologies for absence

These were received from: Sue Carter, Alison Butler, Ruth Symington, Brian Mitchell, Lisa Taber, Mike Vorndran, Lucy Reeve, Bernard Reader and Brian Annis.

 

2.       Adoption of minutes of meeting held on Wednesday 11th February 2004

Proposed:        Mandy Chinery

Seconded:        Stan Goodall

The vote was unanimously in favour of the proposal.       

 

3.       Matters arising from meeting held on Wednesday 11th February 2004

There were no matters arising.

 

4.       Adoption of minutes of meeting held on Wednesday 7th April 2004

Proposed:        Alison Keep

Seconded:        Jill Blofield

The vote was unanimously in favour of the proposal.

 

5.       Adoption of minutes of meeting held on Wednesday 20th October 2004

Proposed:        Denis Kensett

Seconded:        Pat Wood

The vote was unanimously in favour of the proposal.

 

6.       Proposals for Vice-Presidents

The committee proposed Colin Pettingale and John Whelton to be Vice-Presidents.

 

7.       Officer reports

7.1.  Chairman – Simon Pulham

Simon reported that it has been 35 years since he played in his first concert with the band along with three other current members of the band; Colin Pettingale, Gordon Scopes and Mike Vorndran.

 

He thanked the committee for all their hard work during the year, particularly Fiona Gordon-Clarke and Jane Walker who have decided to stand down from the committee. He especially thanked Deidre Gordon, who has also decided not to stand for re-election as the Treasurer. In her time as Treasurer, Deidre has maximised the effect of our charitable status. Our finances are very sound at present and Deidre will present in her report a very interesting an innovative idea regarding subs for this year.

 

Earlier this year the committee made a unanimous discussion that Roger should continue as Musical Director for the next three years. Simon thanked Roger for his idea to have a series of winter concerts, leading to a successful Christmas concert at the Church. The Church have encouraged and enjoyed these events, which continue into 2005.

 

The band visited Deal for the first time last year, with both Roger Jones and John Whelton conducting. Also, the band enjoyed a return to the Suffolk Show, conducted by Barry Salmon.

 

Ray Walker, a loyal and enthusiastic member of the band for many years, passed away in April last year. Simon thanked Gordon for visiting Ray in hospital on behalf of the band.

 

This will be Simon’s last year as Chairman and Toby Pratt has agreed to be Chairman-elect for this year and stand for election as Chairman at this time next year. In the meantime, Toby will continue his publicity work.

 

Finally, Simon thanked the members for their continued support.

 

7.2.  Secretary – Angela Bates

Nothing to report.

 

7.3.  Treasurer – Deidre Gordon

Deidre thanked everybody who had supported her during her PHD.

 

Deidre reported that the funds are in good health and that we have a year’s running costs of approximately £5000 saved in the bank. Our income has been significantly increased by the gift aid scheme. Our charitable status and good funds has meant that we had a successful application for an Awards for All grant of £3500 so we could purchase the new timpani. The old timps have been donated to Northgate High School. We have also spent £3500 on a new trailer and £800 on a stock of new jackets.

 

The two concerts last year at Rushmere Church and Suffolk College were for the benefit of others and were not financed by the band in any way.

 

The management and administration of the band amounts to £40 per member. Deidre made a continued plea that member donations are paid as soon as possible after 1st January each year. The committee have decided to set member donations for the following year from now on. Therefore this meeting will set the member donations for the remainder of 2005 and 2006. At next year’s AGM we will set the member donations for 2007.

 

The level of member donations will remain the same for 2005 and 2006; £60 for full members and £20 for students in fulltime education. Deidre has proposed for this year that if donations are paid in full by 31st March then members will be offered a reduced rate of £48, providing that they sign a gift aid form. Gordon will be collecting member donations this year.

 

Deidre thanked Jill Blofield for auditing the accounts.

 

Deidre reported that it has been a challenging year for her but now that the charity is up and running she will be standing down as Treasurer.

 

7.4.  Membership Secretary – Gordon Scopes

Gordon welcomed the new members that joined last year. The membership currently stands at 53 members. He thanked everyone for their cooperation with regards to reporting absence to him and requested that the engagement notices are filled in early.

 

Gordon reported that Marjory Walker sends her best wishes to the band.

 

The new band trailer has now been delivered and is at Chapel Signs ready to be painted with the band name, logo and website.

 

7.5.  Librarian – Mandy Chinery

“The new music played last year mostly consisted of pieces borrowed by Roger. I am sure that we have all enjoyed playing, as well as the audience appeal of pieces such as Mamma Mia, Gaelforce and the Saint Seans Organ Finale…Thank you!

 

Time Remembered and Band of Brothers were purchased as a result of a donation by Ray Walker’s family. I hope you agree that these reflective pieces are fitting to Ray’s memory.

 

Admittedly, there is a lot of music currently in the pad. If you are not already doing so, I would encourage that you sort the music into alphabetical order. This process should not take a few minutes and would save rehearsal time.

 

Thank you for your continued support.”

 

7.6.  Concert Manager

Sarah thanked Russell for towing the trailer to engagements. She also made a plea to the band that the engagement notices are correct and that members should let either herself or Gordon know if they are not going to be at a concert.

 

8.       Musical Director

“Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen. This AGM has come round rather quicker than most of us would like and to try and reflect on the year gone by would take far too long and delay even longer what we come here to do each week, which is to play. 

 

I would prefer to look back on the positives of our work, for too often there is always a BUT after a concert or the playing of a new, or even old, piece of music. The world as a whole is far too negative so lets try to dwell on what we have achieved and what we can achieve.

 

Since the last AGM we have undertaken many engagements most of which I have had the privilege to conduct. Your enthusiasm and dedication for these events never ceases to impress me and I know how hard everybody tries during a performance. Inevitably something will not go quite right, first we should not mirror that to our audience because nine times out of ten they will not have noticed and second we should learn from it and strive to put it right next time. Mark it up! For my part I have learned to check tempos before starting a piece despite the fact I might have played it several times before. Every engagement and rehearsal is a challenge for me and I enjoy it very much, the moment I don’t will be the time to stop. I try to project that to you, which in turn will demonstrate to our audiences that we are enjoying what we are doing. With the advent of our spring series of concerts here in Holy Trinity this will, I believe, build our audiences further for future concerts we undertake in the district.

 

Repertoire wise I cannot really win, I try, but experience says you cannot please everybody! I have played in many bands and was always seeking to play new challenging arrangements and compositions, (not this again), but we have to remember that the reason our audiences will come back is because they may want to hear us play ‘that piece’ again, Queen in Concert for instance. A bit like Glenn Miller’s ‘In the Mood’ or ‘Ride of the Valkryies’ played by the Parachute Regiment Band. Mandy is a great source of information here and she is always ready to advise me on what you have played before, when and whether you enjoyed it or not. For my part I am constantly looking out for new music, which is user and audience friendly, never be put off by a title! You will probably have your own ideas; please let Mandy or me know. To date only a couple of you have made any suggestions, even provided the music. I will always listen and try to incorporate it into our repertoire.

 

For the future the next three Holy Trinity concerts will hopefully be recorded by Michael Simmonds and from that I hope we can get a good selection of music for a CD. This will be a good advert for the band and a source of income. Of course it would be nice to record in a studio but this costs and past experience suggests live recordings are more spontaneous and better received, cheaper too! Last year I mentioned the band going on tour. I still hope we can at some point even if its just a long weekend somewhere like Holland, France or Belgium. It all depends on the finances and numbers of course.

 

Finally thank you all for your support and friendship. I do value this very much. I am still getting to know you all, character wise and instrumentally, which has a distinct bearing on how I conduct rehearsals. I don’t think I’m too hard on you, some might say not hard enough. We must also continue to encourage young people to see us perform or come and play with us because they could be the bands future. As I said last year do not be too self critical, we all make mistakes, remember we do this for fun. My thanks to Simon for his encouragement and humour and to all the committee for all the work they do on your behalf.”

 

9.       Election of Committee

9.1. Election of Officers

The current Chairman, Secretary, Membership Secretary, Librarian and Concert Manager, have agreed to stand for re-election this year.

Proposed:    Pearl Gibson

Seconded:    Don Cheesewright

The vote was unanimously in favour of the proposal.

 

There were no proposals for the posts of Treasurer or Concert Secretary. These posts are therefore vacant and the committee are empowered to co-opt accordingly.

 

9.1. Election of other committee members

Toby Pratt and Mark Cheadle have agreed to stand for re-election this year.

Proposed:    Jane Walker

Seconded:    Mike Thomas

The vote was unanimously in favour of the proposal.

 

Trevor Daldry has agreed to stand for election this year.

Proposed:    Angela Bates

Seconded:    Kath Sutton

The vote was unanimously in favour of the proposal.

 

10.    Member Donations for 2005

These will be £60 for full members or at a reduced rate of £48 if paid by 31st March 2005 (see 7.3), provided that a gift aid form has been signed, and  £20 for members in full time education

Proposed:        Deidre Gordon

Seconded:        Jane Walker

 

1 member was against the proposal. The vote was in favour of the proposal.

 

11.    Member Donations for 2006

These will be £60 for full members or at a reduced rate of £48 if paid by 31st March 2006 (see 7.3), provided that a gift aid form has been signed, and  £20 for members in full time education

Proposed:        Deidre Gordon

Seconded:        Don Young

 

1 member was against the proposal. The vote was in favour of the proposal.

 

12.    Approval of Independent Examiner for Suffolk Concert Band Accounts

Jill Blofield has agreed to be the independent examiner for the accounts.

Proposed:        Simon Pulham

Seconded:        Deidre Gordon

The vote was unanimously in favour of the proposal.

 

13.    Amendment to Constitution

The constitution is currently a work in progress and is not ready to be agreed at this meeting. An EGM will be called in due course to adopt these changes after approval from the Charity Commission. Simon thanked Barry Salmon for the work he has done on the constitution.

 

14.    Any Other Business

Jane Walker told the meeting that she has had reports that there are some members who seem to be looking to cause trouble for other members. We should rise above any behaviour such as this and look to working together.

 

Jane has been offered a deal with a local dry cleaner to get the band jackets cleaned at a cost of £4 and asked members to bring their named jackets to her next week.

 

Pearl Gibson reported that she is not happy to be recorded at the concert series at Holy Trinity without her permission and requested that all members are asked. Simon responded by saying that our intention was to do proper recording with the appropriate licensing etc. that we could sell.

 

Kath Sutton asked if we had made any arrangements about parking in St. Clements car park. A donation from the social fund has been proposed to cover this cost.

 

Meeting closed at 8.30pm

 

Minutes of an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Suffolk Concert Band on

Wednesday 29th June 2005 at Holy Trinity Church Hall, Ipswich

 

 

 

1.                   To elect the following as full member and trustee of the committee of the Suffolk Concert Band:

 

·         Mr Raymond Wilson - Treasurer

 

The above person has indicated his willingness to stand for election.

 

35 members were present.

Proposed – Colin Pettingale

Seconded – Paul Blofield

The vote was unanimously in favour of the proposal.